The Devil's Nightmare / Messiah of Evil

Rating:
Summary: Messiah of Evil is AWESOME!
Review: ...MESSIAH OF EVIL is an astounding visual scare fest. Absolutely one of the the most visually disturbing flicks I've ever watched. It's like CARNIVAL OF SOULS and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD meets NIGHT GALLERY on acid. The transfer on Diamond's disc is lousy and the print that it came from is awful . Someone needs to clean this movie up and give it a Special Edition. It you can get through the less than stellar source elements...I am a converted fan forever. It is slow, but just so CREEPY!!

Rating:
Summary: Well worth a look for the "B" Flick horror fan!
Review: I recently stumbled upon this gem when I purchased a ten-pack of horror DVD's, and loved it. Combine elements of "Carnival of Souls", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", and "Night of the Living Dead" and you get "Messiah of Evil"(aka "Dead People").

Of course this film has flaws, but its more than made up for in some truly memorable horror sequences.

Well worth a look for the "B" Flick horror fan!

Rating:
Summary: Zombieville U.S.A.
Review: MESSIAH OF EVIL begins with a young woman in a mental institution. She tells of her search for her missing father (played brilliantly by Royal Dano). Her quest takes her to a tiny beach-town called Point Dune. She is joined by a strange trio (Michael Greer and two beautiful women, one of whom was the queen of "The Bee Girls") who seem to be seeking answers of their own. Together, they encounter a town population gone mad! Increasingly, we see townfolk who have been slowly transformed into a horde of flesh-eating zombies! In one memorable scene (of which there are many), a girl goes to the movie theatre to see "No More Tomorrows", where she is slowly surrounded by eerie-looking zombie patrons. This flick is an excellent twist on the undead theme, with many genuinely scary moments and a building atmosphere of dread that is almost suffocating. The "Messiah" himself is a man in black who first appeared a century ago, killing people and turning them into zombies. He called this his "new religion". He left, vowing to return in a hundred years (now) when people would be ready for his rancid gospel. We never see his face. A macabre, apocolyptic tale of horror. I loved this movie! Highly recommended...

Rating:
Summary: The way horror should/used to be
Review: Messiah of Evil is the creepiest movie I have seen in years. The acting is only slightly subpar, but the movie manages to tell a decent story, and the poor quality of the film somehow makes it seem more realisitc. This is a shining example of the 'golden age' when horror movies were actually scary. Not the like the watered-down, effects laden garbage you see today.

Rating:
Summary: An Uncanny, Poetic Masterpiece
Review: This review is of *Messiah of Evil*.

The five stars are for the film itself, and not for the DVD transfer. Though poor, it is still an enormous improvement over the third-rate VHS release. I agree, though, with those who feel that this film deserves a better release, although I won't be holding my breath awaiting it. I take issue, however, with those who criticize the acting and the pace of the film. Anyway, on to the review....

Who knew what darkness lay in the hearts of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the screenwriting team that brought us *American Graffiti* and *Howard The Duck*? Huyck also directed this tale of atavistic resurgence run amok.

A young woman travels to a small seaside town to search for her missing father, a local artist. There, she meets a curious *ménage a trois*: An effete researcher into ancient legends and his two female traveling companions. The uncooperative townspeople from whom they seek information resemble somnambulists, especially at night, when they gather on the beach and gaze longingly out to sea under a reddening moon. Other weird and terrifying portents soon appear: An old drunkard warns the heroine that, here, the corpses must be burned, not buried; a man offers a hitchhiker a mouse--when she refuses it, he eats it alive; tears of blood drip from the townspeople's eyes; live insects and vermin spew forth from their mouths. As the heroine and her companions delve deeper into the mystery, they find themselves engulfed in cataclysmic violence, and the secret of the messiah of evil, as well as the fate of the girl's father, transpires at last.

What this bare synopsis omits completely is the true source of the film's power: Its overwhelming and consistent poetic atmosphere of doom. From the dismal organ and synthesizer music that underpins the heroine's first exploration of her father's empty studio and its strange *trompe l'oeil* murals, to the massed townspeople waiting expectantly on the beach like sleepwalkers in a Delvaux painting, *Messiah of Evil* creates a perfect microcosmic nightmare world. Once seen, it is never to be forgotten: A rare triumph of perfect atmosphere.